3 minute read
Associate Head Coach Felicia Turner
FELICIA Turner
Felicia Turner is in her fourth season on the Georgia volleyball coaching staff in 2020. Turner was promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2020 season after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant on Tom Black’s staff.
In 2019, Turner helped guide the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013, taking on Cal Poly at No. 3 Stanford. The Georgia hitters recorded a .232 hitting clip in 2019 while finishing third in the SEC with 13.83 kills per set. SEC Freshman of the Year Kacie Evans finished ninth in the league with 3.63 kills per set and 4.03 points per set.
During her second season mentoring the Bulldogs, Georgia ranked fifth in the conference with 13.17 kills per set. Sophomore outside Rachel Ritchie was an SEC top-10 performer in the category with 3.35 kills per set.
Turner helped guide Georgia to its best season since 2013 during the coaching staffs’ first season. The 2017 squad completed the season with a 22-12 overall record and a fifth-place finish in SEC play with a 10-8 clip. In RPI, the Bulldogs jumped 132 places from the previous season to 57. The Bulldogs ranked second in the SEC with a 13.75 kills per set clip and fourth with a .243 hitting percentage.
In her last three seasons at LMU, Turner was an assistant coach for the Lions, guiding the team to a pair of NCAA appearances, including a historic run to the Sweet 16 in 2015 after knocking off nationally-ranked Colorado State and top-10 Stanford in Palo Alto. Along with the postseason action, Turner helped LMU to two 20-win seasons. The 24 wins LMU recorded in 2015 were the most for the program since collecting 26 in 2003. In 2015 LMU also finished third in the West Coast Conference, another best for the team since 2003. Under Turner’s guidance, LMU had four AVCA All-America selections, six AVCA All-Region picks, an AVCA Region Freshman of the Year and 11 All-Conference honorees along with the Defensive Player of the Year in 2016.
Turner stepped into coaching after completing a successful collegiate career at LMU and has quickly proven herself as one of the top young coaches, as she was named to the 2016 AVCA Thirty Under 30 Awards list.
AT A GLANCE FELICA TURNER
COACHING DUTIES
Hitters, Blocking
EDUCATION
FAMILY
Husband: Johnathan (JT) Son: Tustin (born May 20, 2020)
NATIONAL COACHING EXPERIENCE
United States Women’s National Team Intern
ADDITIONAL COACHING EXPERIENCE
Loyola-Marymount Assistant, 2014-16 Gold Medal Squared Volleyball camps, 2014
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
Loyola-Marymount, 2009-13; Indoor and Beach
Turner has learned from some of the best coaches in the nation, spending her summers as an intern with the USA Women’s National Team alongside Tom Black who was an assistant with Team USA. In addition, she also served as an instructor at a pair of Gold Medal Squared volleyball camps during the summer of 2014.
Over five years as a Lion player, including a 2011 season, in which she missed the entire year due to offseason surgery but was still a captain and leader from the sidelines, Turner amassed 752 kills to rank 22nd in LMU history. Completing her playing career in 2013 before graduating in 2014 with a degree in pre-physical/ occupational therapy, Turner also posted 882 digs at a rate of 2.34 per set.
The Laguna Niguel, California, native was an integral player in building the LMU sand volleyball program, earning a spot in the 2013 AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships pairs bracket. Turner also coached the sand volleyball team, as the squad entered the 2015 season ranked No. 5 in the nation.
Felicia married Johnathan (JT) in June 2019. The couple welcomed their first child Tustin in May 2020.
